DVDs HD - DVD in High Definition

There is a cut price PS3 due to be released in the UK and Europe bringing the game station and Blu-ray technology to a wider group of consumers. In the UK the console will be offered with a smaller 40GB hard drive than the normal 60GB unit.

In a statement made by Ray Maguire, head of PlayStation UK, he confirmed:

“the release of the 40GB PS3 was a “strategic decision” and not the result of lower-than-expected sales of the PlayStation 3. We have done market research, looked at fans’ forums and the feedback from consumers is that they are anxious to get into PlayStation 3 but it is too expensive”

The new low cost units should be available by early November 2007.

Research just released by Home Media Research shows that Blu-ray has out sold HD DVD up to the 3rd quarter of the year. The research was carried out in the US only but shows that approximately 2.6 million Blu-ray discs were sold against just 1.4 million HD DVD discs during this period.

Analysts believe the HD DVD format will make a comeback in the last quarter of the year, especially after movie releases such as ‘Transformers’ which sold over 100,000 HD-DVDs on its first day of release (16th October).

Japanese motorists will soon have the option of playing high definition DVDs in their car. A new vehicle at the 2007 Toyko Motor Show includes a Panasonic Blu-Ray player.

The player has support for all the Blu-ray features and include BD-Java playback and has a LCD screen. The player looks remarkably similar to the Panasonic BD-10 Blu-ray player.